Old Enough to Know Better, Too Young to Care

Last week I received a message from a person who has blessed my life immensely and has become one of my very best friends (the kind who you spend a few hours with and think What just happened?! Where did the time go?!) Anyway, this message was heartbreaking. My friend had made a series of choices (turned mistakes) that changed their life for the worse. Lost everything. Gone. Done. You get the idea! To say this was the pitts would be the understatement of the year! This had me reflect on my own decisions and the mistakes we make in life.

There are four things I am told about mistakes:

1. We should always learn from them.

2. Many times we run from them.

3. Sometimes we have every intention of making the same mistake twice.

4, According to Carrie Bradshaw, they make our fate.

The problem is that mistakes are to life as junk food is to a diet. You don’t want to eat it, yet you justify when you do. For example, Miss P and I splurged on baking everything under the sun. Consequently, sleep became a luxury since we were on such a sugar rush and sick to our stomachs at the same time. So we agreed to go on a strict diet until this coming Saturday. We named it “the Caveman” since we are only eating things that are not manmade (fruits, veggies, etc). Key words until next Saturday--- when we would splurge again. I can’t help but to ask, “Why do we do this to ourselves?”

People make mistakes daily: credit card mistakes, first date mistakes, home buying mistakes, dieting mistakes,etc. Perhaps it’s similar to the part of What Not To Wear when the “chosen one” is ready to get the $5,000 gift card, but not ready to let go of their old, awful wardrobe. From an outsider, there is no hesitation… Drab to Fab .. Sign me up!

But I find myself doing the same thing, knowing with my whole heart something is a mistake and fully preparing myself to do it anyway.

Even something as juvenile as wearing this pair of red, fabulous, BCBG heels right out of the 2008 Fall Paris Collection. They are uncomfortable, tight, and create the most painful blisters on my heels, but they are SO cute. I mean really, they could potentially stop traffic on Park Avenue! Every now and then I get the urge to wear them fully aware of the pain I will endure the next day and voluntarily choosing to give myself a blister. Definition of Not the sharpest barb on the wire…

I would hope to think that we really learn from all our mistakes, and that we would never run. I would also hope that the math concept when you multiply a double negative it converts into a positive can be applied to my mistakes, but unfortunately I am certain two mistakes don’t create less of a mess.

Why are we so enticed by red tape? red flags? And red shoes?

You know, maybe red shoes are in fact the answer and not the problem, no, Max Azria didn’t come save the day… I am talking about learning from FAMOUS red shoes… the sparkly ones that when clicked three times will take you back home… I choose to think of mistakes as the individual yellow bricks that somehow lead us to our Emerald City… Rest assured if they made red sparkly shoes for men, I would buy my friend a pair as a reminder than no matter how mistakes we make, we should ALWAYS put our best foot forward.

Eventually, we will end up at our appropriate destination even if its back where we started from—before we indulged in way too much cake, before we walked a mile in red shoes, before Dorothy ended up in Munchkin Land…

I might not be old enough to correctly assess the best decision for my life every time, but I will never be too young to care.

My Reality Check Bounced

When did perception become reality?

My parents have worked diligently for years to get me to accept the fact that my opinion is merely my opinion and not reality. I am talking at least 15 long years of straight up brainwashing!! It was a very difficult concept for me to grasp apparently.

Well, this past year, I was informed several times that perception is reality. Meaning my opinion was in fact not an opinion at all, but the truth? Ha! Why did I spend weeks in school studying these things called fallacies in English if opinions were always accurate?! No disrespect, but you are confused.

Case 1: Just because a person perceives the sky is crimson and even convinces a group of followers to believe the same, does not mean the sky is actually crimson. Not even in Sooner Nation is the sky crimson! They are in fact choosing to believe a lie.

Reality Check: Walk outside, depending on time of day the sky is most likely some shade of blue.

Case 2: Ever look at a dress on the hanger and think, that designer should be fired! Worst.$152.Creation.Ever. It is in fact so ugly that you decide to try it on for laughs when dang it… fits like Cinderella’s glass slipper and believe it or not, is REALLY cute!

Reality Check: I have to eat those four words I just spoke… I take “Worst.$152.Creation.Ever” back and replace it with “I.Want.$152.Now!”

Case 3: Ever meet the “faux millionaires”, the ones that hang out at particular Dallas hot spots– these are the guys who spend money and live a lifestyle accustom to that of a millionaire without actually owning the bank account.

Reality Check: This is how you end up with more month at the end of the money. The “unmillionaire.” Unattractive.

Finally, Case 4: The worst kind of perception of all- the kind you don’t even initially assess for yourself, but you just choose to go with… Bad Idea. 100% Epic Fail Guaranteed… Luckily, I am smart and it did not prevent me from bonding with one of my favorite girlfriends… But it could have, if I wasn’t so set in my ways. (Did you hear that, Dad? My stubbornness FINALLY paid off!)

Reality Check: Preception is dangerous, especially when the assessment was never formed by you in good conscious and especially when it is about another person. It’s like wearing black with brown… okay, maybe that’s not dangerous, but it is a fashion faux pas!

You see, at the end of the day, perception is nothing more than a beautifully decorated box cake; it’s the easy way out. Displayed on a pristine platter with color coordinating layers, it looks sinfully delicious, but once you give in, you realize it was just calorie filled temptation and not anything like the made from scratch, homemade goodness you desired it to be. Not to mention, you now have to run 3 more miles and owe Tony Horton another 90 minutes of your time just to compensate for one bite—okay, slice!

Blessed and Highly Favored

Allow me to introduce myself; I said to this woman whom my best friend adores more than a seven year old adores the latest Wii game. Names exchanged and following the standard meet and greet conversation protocol comes the question “How are you?” Her response, “blessed and highly favored,” intrigued me. How bold ...and Very confident I thought to myself.


Well let me tell you—to a woman who lost her paycheck and some freedom, currently dealing with heartache and accidentally spent the grocery money at the Limited all within a few days time… these words were as hurtful as the final score was at the Red River Rivalry on October 17, 2009 (13-16). Perhaps it was the way they were said with such conviction and without any hesitation… like oh, and by the way, food at the State Fair is fattening.

Bitter is the new black, I hear… but it will never look attractive on me.

Black does, though… In fact, one of my most favorite pairs of shoes is black. Classic, leather, peep toes with an oval mirror centered across the front. Cost per wear would be practically one cent! (this is how I choose to justify purchases to the men in my life who don’t understand the concept of fashion) However, every single time I choose to step out in these pumps, the rain chooses to make an appearance also. With.Out.Fail! Every.Single.Time!

Leather + Rain = Stretched Shoe = Cost per wear goes up = Theory down the drain!

Then Luke Bryan would kindly remind me, “Rain is a Good Thing”… I do agree, but not for any of the reasons in his song and not on days in which I decide to wear those beloved shoes. You see, recently, I have been faced with a lot of unexpected obstacles and being a bit dramatic, I haven’t handled things in the best way. Most of the time I love to run and dance in the rain, but not lately. Instead of accepting help and guidance from loved ones, I have pushed them all away. I lived by the belief that if I closed my eyes there would be sunshine in the morning. Well the rain stayed around long enough that by the time it left, so had my summer tan!

Lucky for me, my friends and family chose to stay around to enjoy the sunshine with me. One of the most special people in my life even prayed that God would bring the rain so that maybe if the rain would stay around long enough, it would bring the, “lets see how many puddles we can splash in,” me back.


At the end of the day, I have learned that regardless of circumstances, God has given me all I could ever need by providing me with the people who love me… even more than I love my most favorite black, stretched out, mirrored, peep toes! ...The ones I want to put on right this minute, run to the track atop the Galleria Mall which overlooks the Dallas Skyline and shout, “I, too, am blessed and highly favored!”